Saturday, November 01, 2008

Speaking of Knitting

October, 2008. Never have I ever had such a busy month–not even in college, when our final exams were painfully stretched out over multiple weeks.

After nearly fifteen years I still contemplate those two dreadful swatches of winter and spring with undiminished horror. One was either sleeping, eating, prepping for a test or taking a test; and both sleeping and eating were curtailed in order to leave more time for prepping.

Once, halfway through the ordeal, a friend persuaded me to unwind by leaving campus and heading into Boston to spend the afternoon at the Museum of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, I was an art history major. Instead of losing my cares for a couple of hours in the loveliness, after fifteen minutes I had a panic attack in front of a Renoir and fled back to my books.

October has felt a bit like that. I was either traveling to something or from something; or packing something; or shipping something; or drawing something; or photographing something; or writing something; or signing something; or writing about traveling or packing or shipping or drawing or writing or signing.

Notice, among all those -ings, the absence of knitting.

Not that there wasn't any. It's just all been small and simple, and some of it (like the patterns for the next column in Knitty) I can't show you in advance or Amy Singer will get all huffy.

But I am heartily sick of not blogging about knitting. Today, although a gaggle of -ings has clustered around my ankles to scream for attention, I'm shutting them all in the bathroom so I can show you the latest sweater for Abigail.

The knitting itself is as plain as plain gets: Baby Pullover #214 from always-reliable Knitting Pure and Simple. Top-down, raglan sleeves, highly recommended without reservations. My only changes were to work a seed stitch collar and cuffs, instead of rolled stockinette.

The yarn, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in "Aslan," was pretty all by itself. But when the sweater was finished I wasn't happy with it. Handsome, sure. But dull. No dash. No surprise. A dish of ice cream with no cherry on top. Rock without roll. Mary-Kate without Ashley.

During my infrequent, unoccupied moments at home I'd pick it up and turn it over and squint at it, and then throw it back into the workbasket. I briefly considered slicing the front to make a cardigan with Fun Buttons, but I've had no time to shop around for Fun Buttons.

Then I opened one of the doors on the stash cupboard to hunt for something and three or four small balls of leftover Dream in Color from Abigail's Tulip Jacket fell out. The memory of a bird I'd seen pecking at a bush on Fremont Street knocked up against the memory of a embroidering the Baby Kimono, and a Eureka Moment ensued. (Passers-by in the street heard only a soft popping sound, but for me it was a great relief.)

I consulted briefly with my embroidery books, made a few preliminary sketches, and turned the pullover into "Bird and Berry."

One sleeve, the back, and the front all have the same sort of vine growing from the bottom up. It's just a feathered chain stitch with two-stitch "berries" sprouting at random.

On the front, one of the vines has a little brown bird perched on top, with a berry in its beak.

If you haven't tried embroidering on a piece of knitting, I highly recommend it. I liken it to working cables. For example:

a well-chosen motif can add immensely to the success of a project;

it's much simpler to do than it looks, given a little study and practice, and;

to the uninitiated, it looks like magic, and you are not required to disillusion them.

By happy chance, there's an article by Pam Allen about embroidery for knitters in the new holiday gifts issue of Interweave Knits. (The same issue is absolutely crawling with Panopticon sheep, by the way.)

Little Book News

The hometown launch for It Itches happened on Sunday at Arcadia Knitting an oh, what a merry crowd. It was a charge to stand in the same spot where'd I'd seen Debbie Stoller and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee talk about their work, and read aloud from mine. I wanted to hug everybody who took the time to come say hello. I think I probably did hug about three-quarters of you. I'm turning into the Leo Buscaglia of knitting.

Word is that the book is hitting the store shelves and (finally) landing in the mailboxes of those who placed pre-orders back when it was nothing but a pile of crumpled, ink-stained paper with a terrified cartoonist in the middle.

I spotted it in the wild for the first time at the Borders on State Street, and because I am a shameless, sentimental geek I took a picture. Sue me.

Holy crap. Right there next to Louisa Harding. And me, just a simple girl from Kansas with a pair of tap shoes and a dream.

Meanwhile, several folks have been kind enough to write about it, including The Knitting Scholar, who gave me the royal treatment–an interviewand a review. I've also chatted about it on "Ready, Set, Knit," the WEBS Podcast; and the KnitPicks Podcast.

Shop News

The Guys with Yarn 2009 Calendar is back in the Etsy shop, and a new batch of prints and gift enclosure cards will follow on Monday. The 2008 tree ornament and its ancestors are still available in the Cafe Press shop, where I'm hoping to launch new variations on the 1,000 Knitters bags and shirts this week.

Franklin,First I'm glad that you are all right. The black hole of blog posts had me a tad worried. But I figured with the book (THE BOOK) coming out, I figured you might be up to your ears in attendent business. (THE BOOK rendered me much needed escapism this past week. Thank you, thank you. Can't pick my favorite part ...)

And the sweater garnered a full-fledged "Awww! How wonderful!" response. I think I really must start knitting for my very young friends ... after my "must make for Christmas" list has been taken care of.

Abigail's sweater is darling! What a great idea to embroider on it, and such a sweet motif you chose! Now I'm itching to start a kidlet project, and I promised myself I'd work only on the stuff which needs finishing. And there's a lotta stuff!!! I am stopping to make a Kitty hat for our Japanese student, though. :) I'm glad to see you posting. I miss when you don't get a chance to. samm

Husband (not a knitter) grabbed my Amazon copy of IT ITCHES, before I could even look at it, and read all of the cartoons. His conclusion: "Very funny. I'm sure that the cartoons I didn't understand are very funny, too." Thanks for a delightful book--the knitters' insider-joke cartoons are the best of all!

Congratulations Franklin! And the sweater is just so darned cute. My husband's brother just got engaged TODAY and boy oh boy do I hope he and his bride start making babies soon, just so I can make a sweet little sweater like yours.

I bought the last copy of It Itches this afternoon at the awesome new INDEPENDENT book store called LEGACY BOOKS here in North Texas. I'm going to call them in the morning to support them (and you) and order copies for all my knitting friends.I showed about half the cartoons to my hubby and he said, "These are really funny." And he even got the one about Fassett!Hope you'll do volumes and volumes... and perhaps an alternate series with Miz. D.

Congratulations Franklin! Your book is wonderful! I wanted to meet you when you were signing books at Rhinebeck, but alas, I couldn't escape our booth! Fortunately, Morgaine helped me out and I was able to get an autographed copy! The book is so much fun to read that I finished it for the first time the very next morning (I'm an early riser.) and just loved it. I think one of my all time favorites is the cartoon with the gypsy fortune teller. What a riot! It's a great gift to be able to make people laugh.The sweater is adorable and the embroidery just pulls everything together. Somehow I missed the blog on the kimono, so I had to go back and read it. I just love those dragonflies! They're wonderful! Glad that you finally got to post about knitting again. So, have you started your Christmas knitting yet?

OK, I finally got the calendar ordered. I'm looking forward to having this in my crafting room. Oh, and I'm still having a great laugh with "It Itches." Some of these look like they should be in the New Yorker. Has your agent attempted to submit them? These are great cartoons!

Thank you for all the work you did on your book. It has sustained me daily during some tough working hours, four coworkers lost loved ones last week and a dear friend had surgery, all last week. If not for the smiles I got from dipping into your book daily, and from my farm animals, it would have been a lot tougher. I am glad to see your blog post and very glad you did the seed stitch border, I was considering that very edging on a pattern of my own head's design and seeing Abigail's sweater has clinched it. See, you not only make me smile, but inspire me as a knitter, thanks, you are a gem!

It feels odd to comment on your blog because as I begin to write, it's like I'm writing to a friend. Such are the ways of our bloggy, podcasted world! I just finished listening to your interview on the knitpick's podcast. It was very entertaining!

Your baby sweater looks great with the embroidery. Very clever, you are!! A few weeks ago, I knitted the pure and simple baby sweater in a soft denimy wool for my yet to be born first grandson. It was a pure and simple pattern, but without raglan sleaves (?).

I love embroidery and am working on a bib for new baby. It's going to have an owl on the front, a pattern from Sublime Stitching.

Congratulations on your book. I will pick one up someday soon! Get some rest.

I'm having to use embroidery to tie together a sweater I just made and really didn't find a lot of info after some cursory on-line searches & reviewing all my old Interweave Knits. (Currently I'm just trying out some chain stitching and little flowers....)

I'll be checking out whatever the public library has to review on my own, but it's good to get other opinions esp if the library doesn't have a book that happens to be particularly good.

I was at my knitting group earlier this week and my friend had her copy of the book on the table. I started to read it and had to force myself to stop because I want something left for myself when my copy arrives. Thanks for a great book and welcome back!

That embroidered baby sweater about gave me a milk let down! Honest to God,Franklin, that is the dearest, scandinavian sentimented- no disneycrap- twee and charming little sweater I have ever seen. This is further proof that you are a genius and you thought all that art history at the proper back east college was in vain! That birdie is just perfect.

I can't believe you mentioned Fremont St in your blog! I received my calendar last week and almost freaked when I saw that you live in my old neighborhood. I grew up on the 3500 block of Fremont and went to LeMoyne Elem School. So did most of my aunts, uncles, cousins, sister and brother. My grandparents owned a 3-flat some of us lived in. (My mom had 11 bro & sis) I love, love, love the calendar, although I will probably have to hang it in my craft room as my husband will think it strange to hang by the computer.

I also love what you did to Abigail's sweater. I'll always remember how you included Fremont St in one of her many sweaters. I have 2 young granddaughters to knit for. It's wonderful as the items go so fast!

kristin nichols has always made me want to embroider on knitting. the only thing i have done so far is a technique where you use a crochet hook as a tapestry needle and that was great. i absolutely adore that little brown bird. it is way too cute and makes for a cherry. so aslan means lion i suppose in persian and then adorned with a little bird...

it reminds me of my friends not so caged bird that he has named after obama..

so glad you're back! I loved all the little sheep in Interweave, although I have as yet to sit down and count them. I'm listening to your podcast now with Knitpicks. Love the embroidery on the sweater, what a clever fix!!! Can't wait to see it modeled on little abigail. THE BOOK is on my christmas list... if I can wait that long.

I love what you did with that sweater! The embroidery is fabulous! I knit the sweater for my niece last Christmas, and for my youngest daughter last fall. It does need a little something. I copied the flowers from Harlot's sweater, but didn't have the guts (or the time) to embellish last year. Maybe in the future....

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